By Charles Tembo
THE Ndola High Court has nullified the election of Allen Banda as Chimwemwe PF member of parliament.
This is because the Electoral Commission of Zambia did not provide Gen 20 forms in 36 polling stations, which affected the credibility of the election.
This is in a matter where UPND losing candidate Bornwell Matanda petitioned the election of Banda.
In his petition, Matanda submitted that there was bribery, unauthorised opening of ballot boxes and misallocation of votes by the Electoral Commission of Zambia.
Lusaka High Court Judge Bubile Shonga, sitting in Ndola, nullified the election results after establishing that there were serious anomalies in the electoral process.
“The agents were not availed with statutory required documents, GEN 20. Failure to provide the agents with forms is a serious failure to adhere to the Electoral Process Act,” judge Shonga said.
She said it is possible that the elections were not correct because of the failure by the ECZ not to provide GEN 20 form, adding that 750 votes were misallocated from six polling stations.
Judge Shonga however said she accepted Banda’s submission that the drilling of the borehole was done in February before he was adopted as candidate.
“I find as a matter of fact that the first respondent participated in the community project before he was adopted as a candidate,” said judge Shonga.
Judge Shonga also established that Banda contributed to the construction of the school before he was adopted.
-The Mast